Polar Express Night

Monday we had "Polar Express Night." The girls and I had so much fun getting things ready for that night. We built and decorated a train and planned a special treat. When Josh got home we immediately ate dinner and let the night begin! Camy made a graham cracker And whipped cream train decorated with M and M's. Hadley just ate M&Ms really! Then we went to the basement for everyone to climb on board the train. They got their tickets punched by daddy, the conductor, and we are all set for the movie. They of course got hot chocolate during the hot chocolate part of the show. Hadley just ate marshmallows :) At the end I had a surprise for each girl, a silver jingle bell necklace as their "first gift of Christmas." It was a fun night for the family if I do say so myself ;)

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving was wonderful and a little sad this year.  We made our move to St. Louis the day after so the thought of, "This is our last Thanksgiving living here," kind of hung over everyone's heads.  For the first time I was eating and chatting with my extended family and didn't know when I would see them again.  Of course we will be making trips back home, but getting to see cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents may not happen every trip.  It was really strange.  The hardest part for me was saying goodbye to my Dad.   My mom came with me the next day thank the Lord!! We are very close and since he's not married I just feel like he "needs" me.  I know he has four other kids to keep him company and look after him, but I just hate the thought of him needing me and it taking me 5+ hours to get to him.  Then there is my nephew, Will who will probably grow 2 inches between now and Christmas!  My sisters and little brother will be graduating this year and starting their "grown up" lives soon and I won't be nearby for that either.  It hurts my heart to think of these things, but I am trusting the Lord to make it clear as to why he called us to Missouri.  Anyway, this post is not about moving (that one will come soon!) but, moving definitely held a place at Thanksgiving dinner this year. 

We started our day of in our hotel room since all of our furniture was on a huge moving truck.  The girls had their own room and we had a kitchen with a living room so it was actually pretty homey.  Since dinner wasn't until later in the evening the four of us went to the movies to see "Wreck it Ralph".  It was really cute and Hadley almost made it through the entire thing!  When all of us can go to the movies regularly it will be a great thing for me :)  Josh and Hadley went back to the hotel for Hadley's nap but Cameryn and I had some visiting to do.  We went to the Petersen's and crashed their family Thanksgiving in the process!  The great thing about having friends like them is that you never feel out of place. We said our good byes, Sawyer and Camy played, and we got to leave a little gift for sweet Sutton too.  Side note: knowing we don't live in Louisville anymore and that Sutton will soon be home from Ethiopia made this visit even harder!!  It was a very emotional day.

That evening we all got ready and went to Beth's house for THE BEST dinner. I don't mean to brag, but my family can cook!  The time spent with everyone was so sweet and special.  It made me feel guilty for taking it for granted all these years.  Anna, Jimmie and Stephanie's little girl had her first Thanksgiving and she was so precious!  It was everyone's first Thanksgiving without Aunt Bee but she was most definitely in everyone's hearts.  Camy, Hadley, and Will chased each other and pretended to be puppies crawling on the floor and barking for over an hour.  Katie brought her boyfriend Brent, Chris brought his best friend Kirby, and Jessie brought her "friend" Eric!  My mom and dad were both there, and of course I had my precious little family of four.  We all got to count our blessings together and that in and of itself is a blessing.  

Hadley Cheesing, again!

 Camy being a ham :)

 Sweet sisters

 Mommy and her girls

Dad 

 Uncle Jim, Jimmie, and Dad

 Josh and Jessie

 Chris and Kirby

 Me and my Daddy!

 Me, Mom, and Hadley

Sissy 

Hadley being silly! I don't know what Mamaw said to make her do this : ) 

 Brother and Me

 Mom with her big kids

 Sisters!

Cameryn's favorite face to make right now, LOL!

Stephanie and sleepy little Anna

Halloween Fun

Since life has been absolutely nuts lately I have some catching up to do for documenting purposes.  This is just a little bit of what our fall festivities were like this year.  First we hit up Halloween at the Zoo like we have done every year.  Sadly, we usually do this with Abbey and her girls, but Presley was sick : (  We met Kim and Will at the zoo and I must say we had the CUTEST cowgirl, unicorn, and Elmo around!

Next came our trip to Huber's Farm to pick our pumpkins.  Our trip started out with some rain, but it ended quickly.  Honestly, I will take a little wind and rain if it means I can go during the week and miss out on the crazy crowds.  I can be anti-social  ;)  The girls had a great time petting the animals and it was so much fun to watch.  Hadley really got into it this year, and she and Camy ran all around the pumpkin patch. Aside from watching the kids my favorite part was the fried biscuits and homemade apple butter!

 Trying on Witches hats

 Camy needed and evil bird with hers

 Dad and Hadley

 She liked the big one!

 Miss. Independent did not want to be held

 Sticking her tongue out

 Cheesing with Daddy

 The girls

 Hadley is going to hook these goats up!

 Camy watching her beloved peacocks

 Too funny not to post!

 Going down the big slide

 A bicycle built for four

Fun with Dad

And lost but not least, we trick-or-treated at my mom's house.  We ate chili and let the kids have pretty much whatever they wanted.  Hadley was a pro at trick-or-treating!  She would walk up to the door with her chubby little unicorn belly, hold her bag open, and say "Tweet!"  Too cute for words!!  Of course she did not want to ride in the stroller or be carried.  Her little 18 month old legs walked all around the neighborhood.  Will and Camy did really well too and had tons on candy to show for it. We had a great time!

December Update

We are now #46 on the wait list!! Very encouraging to move up 8 spots and for 10 orphans to get referred to their forever families. The best part is one of those referrals was for the my best friend!! I cannot wait for the Petersen's to meet their daughter and for her to meet her precious parents. It's pretty much the next best thing to us getting a referral! God is good ALL the time....... even while we wait and wonder.
More posting to come about our move, Thanksgiving, and life for the Burt's.

Big News

I know our blog has kind of been a ghost town lately, with only the occasional tumbleweed rolling through, but it has been for good reason.  Life has been crazy with a capital C.  We have been praying about Josh's future with his current employer for over a year now.  He loves where he works but wanted to advance and we just weren't sure if that was going to happen.

Let me back up a little and say that back in May he was asked to apply for a sales manager position in Omaha, NE.  Talk about knocking me backward when he comes home with that new location for our family.  I have never lived outside of Kentucky and only lived outside of the Louisville area for 3 years of college.  That is just how my family does it.  Everyone lives here. We get together for all the holidays, your cousins are your first friends and you get to see them often.  It's common for Papaw to stop by announced or not and bring goodies, help with projects around the house, or just visit.  Mamaw does everyone's hair so we have no clue what it would cost to have someone foil your entire head, wax your eyebrows, or listen to what's on your heart. That is the only way of life I've ever known and was very comfortable and happy that my kids would have the same.

So back to Omaha.  This hit me like a ton of bricks.  I knew what I as supposed to say and what my role would look like in this, but my emotions were not on board.  I cried for a solid day after I told Josh that if he felt the Lord wanted us there, then He would get us there so go ahead and apply.  Long story short, that was not where God wanted our family.  Thank you, Jesus.

Fast forward to mid September and we are presented with another opportunity.  This time it's a sales manager position in St. Louis.  Much better location, but remember all that stuff about cousins and comfort, well that is still a factor in this move.  The tears were not flowing like last time and with more confidence I said I was supportive and for Josh to apply if he felt God wanted us there.  After some waiting, Josh was officially offered the job last Wednesday.  I am so proud of this huge accomplishment and all the hard work he's put forth to get there.  I know he will be an amazing manager and leader to his team.  I also know that the Lord has called ALL of us to this.  This is my source of comfort and peace.

I have had many moments of sadness, fear, and anger so please know that I haven't dealt with all of this in the best of ways.  However, I have been digging into God's word, praying, and having great friends pray as well and I can honestly say that it is getting easier every day.  Every day I am preparing the house to show, raising the girls, cooking meals, trying to organize our life so that this transition can be as easy as possible.  I hate to think what all of that would look like without the Lord.....can you say scarey!!!   Our house went on the market late Thursday so somehow we were able to get it ready in a week; Thank you God.  Next we need someone to buy it so that we can buy another house in St. Louis.  I am tempted to worry and be anxious about this but God's word knows the truth, not my crazy emotions.  Nothing is too hard for God.  He spoke the universe into existance so how easy it will be for him to send us the perfect buyer and find us the perfect new place to call home.  This is what I know is true. I'm telling you this, because I'm telling myself this daily if not hourly!

So there you go the big news.  The Burt's are moving to St. Louis at the end of November.  Our next little girl will come home from Ethiopia to St. Louis.  Lots of Camy and Hadley's memories will be made in St. Louis.  My biggest prayer is that God will make it clear to us why we are there and use our family for His kingdom.  I pray for an easy transition and for godly friends and a good church home.  I pray for all our family and friends since this effects everyone. I pray I can always remain thankful even when this is hard because God is truly so good.